Fenway feeling follows fans to Foxboro

Monday

Sep 17, 2012 at 12:01 AMSep 17, 2012 at 6:24 PM

Everything you need to know about the state of New England sports was summed up by the sight of fans streaming toward the exits in the fourth quarter of the Patriots' home opener, and then sprinting back down the ramps.

JONATHAN COMEY

Seems to me that everything you need to know about the state of New England sports was summed up by the sight of fans streaming toward the exits in the fourth quarter of the Patriots' home opener ... and then sprinting back down the ramps, as their team reminded them that the game was still winnable.

And then, after an improbable missed field goal sealed an improbable 20-18 loss to the Arizona Cardinals, heading back toward the exits, surely grumbling all the way to the parking lot about the unfairness of it all.

It felt at times Sunday like the bad vibes and petulance from the collapse of the Red Sox empire had somehow traveled the 30 miles southwest to Foxboro; on at least four occasions, boos came raining down on Gillette Stadium directed at the Patriots' play calls or execution, and the team itself did display an uncharacteristic ability to deliver that which their baseball brethren had seemingly cornered the market on.

So, is it more of the same? Are the Patriots' hopes for a Super Bowl gone, washed away by the tide of what was a pretty shocking defeat at home Sunday afternoon to the Arizona Cardinals?

Hardly. Championships aren't won and lost in September, a reassuring cliché backed up by the news that New England's last home opener defeat came in their magical 2001 season.

But what if this season doesn't play out as expected? What if the Patriots lose a few more they could have won? Will there be more boos? Cut-rate tickets on StubHub? Sports radio callers questioning the heart and the resolve? Will "Patriots Nation" turn on their boys, just as "Red Sox Nation" turned on theirs this season?

Let's hope not.

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The doomsday scenario isn't a particularly likely one, considering the quality of the Patriots' roster and the particulars of their defeat Sunday. New England outplayed Arizona fairly obviously, dominating both sides of the ball, overcoming the loss of Aaron Hernandez in the first quarter and making big plays late ... but didn't get that win.

That'll happen from time to time to any good football team, and better now than in January.

But the sight of Tom Brady talking to old friend Troy Brown before the game, looking like contemporaries, was a reminder that Brady's days are numbered — that there will eventually have to be a transition, hopefully a smooth one, but hardly guaranteed. That there will be struggles ahead. And if the Patriots crowd reacts as poorly as they did Sunday — to a rare setback during a decade filled with pinnacles — how will they react if this team ever dares to be mediocre again?

Brady, not surprisingly, had things in reasonable perspective after the game.

Striding to the podium to face the media, he exchanged a quick look of commiseration with the departing Wes Welker and attempted to explain a somewhat unexplainable defeat. The defense played brilliantly, Brady threw for over 300 yards, Arizona did its best to give the game away in the final seconds, and yet, somehow, the Patriots lost.

"I mean, you miss kicks, you throw interceptions, you fumble the ball, you miss tackles; over the course of a long season, those things happen," he said. "There's not one play that lost the game; we did a lot of things that allowed us to lose this game."

New England did make big plays, but just not enough of them — and it was a rare deficiency in special teams that cost them this one. A blocked punt led to a touchdown for the Cardinals in the third quarter, and Stephen Gostkowski's shank from 42 yards out as time expired was perhaps karmic payback for the Billy Cundiff miss that helped send New England to the Super Bowl last year.

The Patriots' locker room emptied out as fast as the stands did after the game, no one particularly eager to talk about the one that got away.

Things were much more upbeat on the Arizona side, as lineman Daryn Colledge played a series of 80s gems from the speakers in his locker to set the mood and the players took their time getting into their civvies despite the long plane ride ahead.

Asked how much the opponent matters after a win, tight end Todd Heap laughed.

"When you're playing the Patriots? It matters a ton. You don't come in here and get wins too often. This is one I'll remember, and it's huge for us."

Kicker Jay Feely said: "I don't know if anyone thought much of us, or considered us a good team so, coming into New England, getting a big win like this ... it's big for our confidence."

The Cardinals are a likeable bunch who've won 9 of 11 dating back to last year in a variety of surprising ways, and clearly this win will mean more to them than the loss will to the Patriots. For them, it was a signature win. For New England, it was a reminder to dot the I's and cross the T's, and probably little more than a blip on their playoff radar.

There will be more winning here in Foxboro, in 2012 and beyond, and more reason for the fans to cheer at the top of their lungs.

If they feel like it.

Jonathan Comey is sports and features editor for The Standard-Times. E-mail him at jcomey@s-t.com